Jane's Stuff

Jane enjoys drawing and painting. Join her. Doodling, drawing, ART - all of it is great for brain health! Check out Jane's Youtube channel below. And if you see a picture on my blog you would like to purchase send Jane an email (or check out Jane's store).

When I was in college decades ago I had a problem. I knew I could write but every time I sat down to write I got stuck and I couldn't move past it. I went to one of my professors in tears and he said something that changed my life. He said, "Jane, just write."

That's it.

And in that three word sentence I realized I was having such trouble because I was stopping the flow of thought, the flow of creativity by criticizing every word that came out of me. How can something flow when you judge it?

My writing took off from that day and eventually I found my voice and eventually I was able to write tons (and still do).

Well, I have realized this morning I am doing the same thing with my drawing. I love to draw. And I have a style that has developed over the last couple of years. It is a fun style and one I can express myself in. If you know artists you will very likely see the influence of my mentors (mentors who do not know me so they have no responsibility toward my work but mentors nonetheless because I study their work and learn from them).

So today I am going to try and just draw for the book I'm working on. The pictures I have done so far have a few good elements in them but they aren't right. They don't make me happy when I see them. They are forced. And that is not good illustration. So Lord Jesus help me get into that flow for this project!

I'll share one picture from it. I like the woman in this picture. Not sure if any parts of this picture will end up in the finished project.

After Quentin Blake, William Steig is my most admired illustrator. Steig was an artist, an illustrator, a cartoonist (he was a genius at that). For years he drew cartoons for the New Yorker. The publication still uses his work even though he died in 2003. That's how good his work is!

So, tonight, I looked up some Steig images and copied a couple. I also did an original (very quick) sketch of Steig himself. Here's the sketch:

I think it looks a lot like him. You'll have to look his picture up to form your own opinion (look for pictures of him in his later years).

I also found out he didn't have a children's book published until he was 61 years old. That is exciting to me. I'm 46. I have plenty of time!

So, I'll share the two pictures I copied -- I only copied parts of them.The first sketch I will show is a copy of his picture called The Stolen Kiss.

The second is called Grievances. I added some rays to the sun but don't like them much.

I sketched the below pages a few nights ago while watching TV with my kids. Some of it was me just copying pictures I saw in a book. The rest is just from my own head. Sketch, sketch, sketch....it is a good thing!

I haven't drawn for a while! Lots going on with school and kid activities. My oldest is graduating (he is pictured here with me and my husband/his dad....I got my hair dyed special for the occasion....).

Silly picture here but I just had to get something on paper. I just used children's crayola crayons, a pencil and a pen.

Not a masterpiece but fun to look at. Makes me smile.

If you never doodle try and do some doodling today. It's good for your brain and it kind of frees you from everything around you. Don't do it to draw something wonderful. Just do it for fun.

First I drew this face. It is a dude who doesn't look real happy to have his portrait done. But hey, I had to do it. I didn't know what to draw so I just started drawing squiggly lines. That is what his hair is.

I am hoping to take an online course soon about illustration. When God provides the funds I will do it. It is always good to keep learning and growing however you can.